


So Show Me Why You're Strong

by monsieur_malik



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/M, Idk how to tag things, M/M, Manchester United, Slow Burn, a little violence, angsty, boxing au, illegal things, the boys, underground fighting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-11
Updated: 2013-10-13
Packaged: 2017-12-29 03:22:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1000279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monsieur_malik/pseuds/monsieur_malik
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So basically Liam is a really angsty and hot intelligent pre-med student and to pay for school he has to go into the underground boxing ring and Niall trains him and he fights with Louis and Zayn is basically his pimp and Harry is the lovable roommate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

             “Shit,” Liam groans as he bangs his head against the standard issue college desk after missing the same calculus problem for what seemed like the fortieth time. Tears of frustration well up in his eyes.

  
              He glances down at his watch, it’s almost 11 pm. After four and a half hours of studying for tomorrow’s upcoming exam and his cranium’s most recent encounter with the rather unfriendly surface of the desk, Liam decides a study break is in order.

  
             Slipping on his shoes and grabbing his keys, he heads out the door eyeing his blissfully oblivious roommate, Harry, who is bobbing along to the some random underground Indie song on his iPod cross-legged on his bed. Liam counts himself lucky in that aspect.

  
              He and Harry had been thrown together by chance as roommates and miraculously had they meshed perfectly together, even though they were polar opposites. Liam, with toned body and straight, cropped light brown hair with warm chocolate eyes, kept his side of the room extremely tidy, went to bed early, got up early to work out and was constantly studying or in the gym. Harry on the other hand being a bit more liberal with the amount of dirty socks on his floor and leftover boxes of takeaway and spoke in a deep drawl with long gangly limbs and bright green eyes under a mop of unruly brown curls.

  
              But for whatever reason, Harry’s easy going attitude could always counter balance even Liam’s most austere moods. He remembers with a smile the first time they met. Liam had been loaded down with his duffel bags on move-in day freshman year and opened the door to find a very naked, very unashamed Harry on the floor smoking a bowl.

  
             “Mate, you look like you needa hit loosen up a bit, eh?” he spoke with a rich voice, deepened by the smoke.

  
              After Liam picked his jaw off of the floor, they became fast friends and now roommates two years later.

             Liam zips up his jumper and heads out into the crisp fall air to take a walk around campus. He spies a couple snogging on the side of the building-their breathless laughs getting lost in the night. Not jealous not jealous not jealous.  
Taking a large huff of breath, Liam clears his head, or at least tries to push back the overwhelming amount of stress in the back of his mind, stress relating especially to a phone call he’d gotten earlier that day.

              The Payne family had never been particularly well-off, but they had always managed. However, after the devastating car accident that killed his father and older sister Ruth only two months after he’d moved to ManU, left his mum Karen struggling to finish putting his other sister Nicola through law school as well as supporting Liam.

  
              He’d always been an honor roll student; however, after the loss of his father and sister, he redoubled his efforts in order to keep his grades up along with his scholarships. His dad, Geoff, never went to college, opted to work in a factory, working his way up to the manager position.

  
             His dad would always tell him, “My children are my pride and joy, and they will make something of this family one day.” Liam was now in his junior year of Manchester University with a 4.0 and with a promising future in medical school.

  
             He never partied, mostly because he only had one kidney and didn’t drink alcohol, but also because he was always studying at the library. This hadn’t left a lot of time for a love life either. He had casually dated sweet a girl named Danielle from his hometown Wolverhampton during freshman year, but after the accident Liam just couldn’t deal with anything other than his coursework and what remained of his family.

  
             Karen went into a deep depression after her husband’s death, rarely leaving the house, and Nicola did much like Liam and threw herself into her studies. Holidays were bleak affairs, no laughter, no joy, only memories of a once happy family.

  
            The phone call earlier that day had been from his student advisor, informing him that his tuition payment due on September 3rd had never been paid. It was now October 1st and he had a calculus midterm the next day. Great. He had assured counselor that it must have been a mistake and he would settle it with his parents as quickly as possible.

  
             However, Liam knew that his mum wouldn’t be able to come up with the rest of the tuition. During summer breaks Liam worked in the same factory his father did, making minimum wage so he had around £4,000 in his saving account after stashing away every cent. The tuition balance due even after his scholarships was precisely £8,568.11, and he had no idea where to get the rest of the cash.

  
            Liam wasn’t going to be able to register for spring semester classes until after everything was paid off by October 31st, and to top it of these core classes were critical to ensure that he’d get into med school.

  
             Sighing, he kept walking trying to think of a solution. There was no way he could get could a legal part time job between now and then to make up the difference. Suddenly, out of the nowhere a blur of blonde hair and bright blue eyes riding a longboard collides with Liam’s body at an alarming rate.

  
 “Oi mate, I’m right sorry ‘bout that, new to this whole thing really,” spills out of the boys mouth with a thick Irish accent, “I’m Niall by the way. Niall Horan just in from Mullingar.”

  
Liam really doesn’t have time for foreign exchange students right now, but he introduces himself anyway, “I’m Liam Payne, nice to meet you.”

  
“You’re a right solid fella aren’t cha? Me mate Zayn’ll be right ready to meet you, c’mon.”

 

And before Liam really knows what’s happening he’s literally being drug across campus with an intensely chatty Irishman wondering what the hell was happening.


	2. Chapter Two

          Zayn was sitting in his oversized leather office chair running over some figures at around 11:45pm when Niall busts through his door with what looked like an overgrown puppy in tow. Zayn had brought Niall over from Mullingar to help him train and in turn was paying for his schooling, it helped that they were best mates as well, they met at a bout around 3 years ago and kept in touch.

         Zayn eyes the young man with him. Fair brown hair cut short with a strong jawline and wide-brown eyes. The term deer in the headlights came to mind. He was proper fit though with wide shoulders, he could see the muscle underneath his thin jumper.

“Niall, what did I tell you about bringing home strays?” Zayn drawls.

“Oi, this is Liam, he goes to ManU and I think ‘e might be just what we’re lookin’ for,” Niall says pointedly.

          Liam is oblivious and too awestruck by the gorgeous, he didn’t’ even know if the word gorgeous could properly describe the piece of artwork sitting in front of him, to fully understand the tone behind Niall’s voice. Zayn lets his eyes rake down Liam’s body once more and Liam blushes a deep red. Niall is beaming with triumph.

“So tell me, _Liam_ , have you ever boxed before?” Zayn inquires with a quirked eyebrow. Liam liked the way his name sounded coming from his mouth

“Yeah, yeah in grade school I took a few lessons, won a few fights too, but not since I was 15. Why?” Niall’s grin grows even wider.

           Zayn takes a moment to speak. “Well, since Mr. Horan obviously thinks so highly of you, I would like to offer you a job, on a temporary basis of course, as one of my fighters. You could make quite a bit of money, perhaps meet some girls, but I will only accept your best, all that you have.” Zayn looks at Liam expectantly.

      Liam has no idea what to say, he’d heard of this types of fights, mostly illegal and extremely dangerous. Liam thinks of his impending tuition balance, his mother crying over the number of bills piling up at home.

          He looks at Zayn, the picture of calm cool and collected in a black suit with the top two buttons undo, spying some ink around his collarbones. Not that he was staring or anything, but he suddenly felt inadequate in his ManU sweatshirt and jeans.

“How much per fight?” Liam asks hesitantly.

 “It’s difficult to say, it depends on how well you fight and how well Mr. Horan can sell you,” Zayn says matter-of-factly, “but I would expect around £3,000 for your first bout, if you win obviously.” Liam shuffles his feet and looks at Niall.

“I can see your hesitation, and I will warn you that I don’t do medical bills and this is rather illegal, but we have a state of the art training facility here and Niall will be personally responsible for you and make sure you’re ready before your first fight. It also helps that I’m smart. I don’t make mistakes,” Zayn says with a smirk.

Niall gives Liam a small smile and says, “I promise y’won’t regret it mate.”

“Alright,” Liam says, “I’ll do it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh a little baby chapter so cute. Longer one next, I promise!


	3. Chapter Three

“Aw fuck yeah mate, we’re gonna make the greatest team,” Niall whoops.

Zayn is looking exceptionally pleased with himself, Liam is still quite bashful about the whole ordeal.

“But one thing,” Liam adds, “I have mid-terms this week so I have to finish those and then I can start training.”

“Sure, sure whatever you need wonderboy,” Zayn smirks as he gathers his things to show them out. “Niall be sure to give our new little trainee a quick tour before you two leave.”

Niall is bouncing up and down as they leave the office. While Zayn is locking up he adds, “Your first bout will be on the 14th, think you’ll be ready by then?”

Deciding to take a more confident approach to the situation Liam thinks for a moment and says, “Fuck yeah.”

Taken aback Zayn says, “So the puppy bites, good. You’ll need it.” And with that, Zayn walks out the door, Liam lets his eyes linger on his back probably a little bit too long, but hey, he just got a job, a little self-indulgence isn’t too bad.

“Alright mate, first things first. Let’s get a look at the training room,” Niall says excitedly. They leave the hallway full of offices and enter a room with three practice rings along with a wall of impressive work-out equipment and stacks and stacks of weights. “We’ll start next Monday at 4pm and end whenever it’s time,” Niall says a little bit more seriously. “Your first opponent goes by the name of Grimmy, he’s smaller than ya and quick as a whip so’ll work on speed and evasion tactics,” he adds.

“You really know your stuff, huh?” Liam asks inquisitively.

“Oh yeah mate, in me hometown I was number one until I broke me ribs and me mum made me quit. But I’m the best trainer in the UK, I’ll tell you that much,” Niall says proudly.

Liam smiles and says, “Thank you really, you have no idea how much I need the money.”

“Really now, how much ya short?” Niall ask looking genuinely concerned, “you into drugs or gangs, Zayn won’t like that.”

“No, no, no, it’s nothing like that I’m late on my tuition payments,” Liam says quickly.

“Hmph. Can’t have that, I’ll talk to the bossman for you,” Niall says, “the only thing ya need to be worryin’ about now is that first match.”

“Sure thing,” Liam says with a smile but his mind is on that exam tomorrow morning, and it was almost 1 am already. “I really have to go though,” Liam says, “I’ll see you next Monday.”

“Alright mate, see ya, and here’s me number if ya need anything,” Niall says as he rips off a sheet of paper for Liam and scribbles his number on it. Liam waves goodbye and heads out the door.

            On the way back to his dorm, he can’t stop thinking about his new boss, Zayn. He doesn’t even know if that’s even his real name. Maybe he should have given a fake name, the drawbacks of growing up straight-laced he thinks with a smile. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a sleek black Mercedes SL550 pull up to the curb. The window rolls down, and ho and behold, the man he just practically sold his soul to is sitting in the driver’s seat.

            “Get in Liam,” he says drily, “it just wouldn’t do for my new man to get jumped on his way home.”

Nervously Liam smiles and slides into the car that probably costs more than his entire life. “Thanks,” he says quietly.

Zayn just nods curtly and pulls back onto the road. The Weekend is playing softly in the background and the whole thing is just a little bit surreal for Liam. “So how old are you wonderboy?” Zayn asks.

“Just turned 21 at the end of August,” Liam says, “I’m in my junior year, pre-med.”

“Oh, I see we have a scholar on our hands,” Zayn says jokingly and he actually cracks a smile. Christ. What Liam would do to see that smile on a regular basis. His perfect white teeth catching is tongue between, it should be illegal to be that good-looking. Silence falls over the car and Liam takes the time to really stare, appreciate really, the man sitting next to him. The expensive suit is tailored to fit his small frame perfectly and Liam sees even more ink peeping out from underneath the sleeves. The stubble across his jaw made Liam wonder if it would be rough or soft against his face, in between his thighs.

“Niall called me earlier,” Zayn says suddenly interrupting Liam’s current thought process, “you’re tuition will be taken care of first thing in the morning.”

Shocked he can barely speak. “Really,” he splutters, “I haven’t even started to train yet.”

The car pulls up to his dorm. Zayn turns to really look at Liam, “I can spot good character quite easily, and like I said, I don’t make mistakes. So, this is really an investment for me. I expect a lot from you, _Liam._ Now go get some rest for that exam tomorrow.”

Liam goes to open the door but Zayn catches his arm, leans in close and whispers, “Good luck wonderboy.” Liam’s brain short circuits and Zayn pushes the door open for him letting his body slid against his for a moment too long. Liam smiles weakly gets out and shuts the door and gives a little wave as the car pulls away.

Oh, he’s fucked.

He jogs up to his room, ready to go to collapse on his bed and sleep, opens the door to find Harry pacing like a lunatic. “WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU?” Harry bellows, Harry doesn’t bellow.

Liam forgot that he had left his mobile in the room. Shit. Oh shit, I just signed up for an illegal extracurricular activity, oh sit.

“I have been worried sick, you NEVER go out past midnight, where the fuck were you Li?” Harry yells using his nickname brandishing his lanky limbs, pointing a finger at Liam, “I almost called the police!”

“I just went on a walk, lost track of time I’supose,” Liam says sheepishly.

“Jesus Christ never do that again. I’d thought you’d gone mental over mid-terms, off to the looney bin with my best mate,” Harry calms down a bit.

 “Haha, perhaps that’s where I belong,” Liam jokes, “but I really gotta sleep mate, big day tomorrow.”

“Right, right,” Harry nods “sorry for freaking out,” he adds slightly embarrassed, “I just worry ‘bout you.”

“Me too, me too, but I’m alright,” Liam smiles while changing into his pajamas and shuts off the lights.

After they both crawl into their beds, it’s 2:12 am, his exam is bright and early at 8:30 am. Shit.

“Night Leeyum, love you,” Harry drawls.

“Love you too mate,” Liam whispers and falls asleep, only feeling a little bit bad for not letting Harry know, not just yet at least.

At approximately 2:13 am, Zayn is also at home and in the shower. He thinks about his latest recruit, all hard muscle but soft words from his sinfully pink, pouty lips. Zayn lets his hands travel down his wet, soapy torso, his lower belly as he imagines Liam in the shower with him. He wraps a loose hand around his cock and pumps himself to the image of Liam on his knees looking up at him with those innocent warm brown eyes. As he comes moaning loudly and biting into his shoulder, he thinks to himself, oh man I’m fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> xoxo


	4. Chapter Four

Liam’s ass gets slammed on the red plastic of the practice ring…again. This whole boxing thing is a little bit different than he remembered.

“Oi, mate, get your head in the ring!” Niall yells off from the side. Louis, or The Tommo, as he was more commonly known helps Liam up…again.

“You’re doin’ a bit better, but you have to stop just throwing yourself in, think before you swing, alright?” Louis offers. When they met 2 hours earlier, Louis had been all charm with quick grins and perfectly styled hair, Liam liked the older boy immediately, chatting while they ran on the treadmill. However after getting into the practice ring and having his ass repeatedly kicked he was getting a little bit annoyed with his sassy smirks.

Thankfully, his mid-terms had been excellent, ensuring him high A’s in all of his classes as long as he didn’t fuck up the finals in December. He’d even been chatted up the cute TA in his Cal class named Nick, exchanging phone numbers. Nick was quite cute, tall and lanky with sandy blonde hair quiffed and a smattering of freckles. Even though he was attracted to Nick, Liam couldn’t deny the fact that he’d thought of Zayn quite a bit, at night alone in his bed coming breathlessly with his on his lips.

And now the very same boss was sauntering around the practice arena. Liam shakes his head and gets back into practice with Louis, dodging and evading, and more importantly listening whenever Niall shouted direction his way. Liam was clearly much larger than Louis, who was small and curvy, but the latter was much faster, throwing punches that connected with his side but Liam saw him ever move. What made it all the more unnerving was the fact that the gorgeous Zayn Malik was stalking around looking fit as fuck with his white dress shirt rolled up, ink spilling down his forearms, hazel eyes flashing Liam’s way every once in a while.

 “MATE, LEFT HOOK!” Niall screamed all of the sudden, Liam took the shot and Louis stumbled. Finally motivated, Liam used this momentum to his advantage, dealing out two more quick upper cuts and another punch until a very surprised Louis was actually on the ground. Niall was whooping and jumping around and even Louis was grinning with blood trickling from his swollen lip. Liam stole a glance at Zayn to see him smirking, letting his eyes trail down Liam’s sweaty, shirtless stomach before turning around and heading back to his office.

“Good job, Li!” Niall says excitedly, “you know what, this calls for a good old fashioned celebration! To the pub lads!”

“Quite right!” Louis agrees and once more Liam is being pulled somewhere by an intensely chatty Irishman, but this time with The Tommo in tow as well.

It’s almost 7pm when they get to the pub and order their drinks, settling into a booth, laughter flowing freely between the three of them. Liam finds out that Louis started boxing to support his mum and four younger sisters after his dad left.

“Been doing it since I was 16 years old, barely know how to do anything else now!” Louis cries proudly, raising his pint for a toast. Conversation was flowing easily and then the next thing Liam knows, the baby giraffe that he calls his roommate, one Mr. Harry Styles, has slid into the booth next to him and is spectacularly plastered.

“So pleased to meet you,” Harry drawls, voice thick with alcohol and eyes even brighter than usual, staring at Louis quite intensely. “It’s amazing that you could get Leeyum out of the library, you must be pretty special,” he says with a very obvious wink to Louis.

“Niall, Niall Horan,” says the oblivious Irishman shaking Harry’s hand with gusto.

“And I’m Louis Tomlinson,” he says with a sly smile, “and you are proper fit, but I’d like a first name to go along with it.”

“Harry,” he smirks. Within the next few hours, they certainly become the most uproarious booth in the pub, Louis and Harry becoming increasingly more handsy, Niall outdrinking all four of them, catcalls and cursing ensue, Liam would even say that he is proper tipsy after a few drinks. Liam also miraculously managed to keep the conversation away from the fact that we was acquainted with these two boys because of an illegal underground boxing ring he was a new member of that was run by possibly a demi-god named Zayn Malik. It wasn’t that hard because Harry and Louis were so wrapped up in each other, and Niall would talk to the napkin dispenser if he thought it would listen.

However, when Louis and Harry get up on the table and start doing a rendition of _You’re the One That I Want_ from the musical _Grease_ around 1 am,  Liam decides it’s time to take poor Harry home. 

“Better shape up, caaaauseee I need man,” Louis sings dramatically while pointing at Harry, “and my heart is set on youuuuu.”

“You’re the one that I want, ooh ooh ooh,” Harry coos as Liam fireman carries him out of the pub.

“Goodbye Louis and Niall, so good to meet you,” Harry giggles.

On the way back to the dorms, Liam hears 87 different versions of the phrase, “But Leeyum Louis is so pretty I want to marry him.” And 87 times Liam has to assure him that he can, just not right now because he has class in the morning.

When Liam’s 6:30 alarm went off, he was pissed and hungover. Popping two aspirin and throwing on his track pants, he cast a wishful glance at the slumbering Harry and left for his morning run. Liam loves to run, the burn in his legs, the tightness in the chest, he loves it. Runner’s high he thinks to himself. He lets his mind wander, wondering if he’d made the right decision. If any medical school found out he’d been a part of anything illegal his application would be thrown out on the spot, but he really likes his new job. Louis and Niall are great mates and he enjoys the thrill of the match, and of course, there was Zayn. Liam had never been so attracted to anyone in his life. Even the way that he looked at him sent shivers down his spine and goosebumps up his arms. He wanted Zayn, badly.

After the fourth mile, Liam decides it’s time to head back to the room and shower before class. When he gets back to the room, Harry is still sleeping, so Liam throws his dirty socks at him to wake him up.

“Leeyum that wasn’t very nice,” he whines.

“Time for class,” Liam chirps.

“Is Louis going to be there?” Harry asks with a grin.

“No, but you’ll be able to see him later. Economics first,” Liam chastises.

“Alright, alright, off to be cog in the machine, a part of the man’s plan, stripping myself of individuality here we go,” Harry grumbles on the way to go brush his teeth. Liam just smiles to himself at his hipster poli-sci, sociology double major roommate and organizes his books for another long day of class. 

**Author's Note:**

> this is my very first fic so be kind and leave me comments/suggestions xoxo


End file.
